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Job Osborne
Description
TitleJob Osborne
SummaryEllesmere farmer, well-sinker, and contractorDescriptionJob Osborne was an inventive farmer, contractor and engineer who developed pioneering expertise in sinking artesian wells across Canterbury. He was a farmer at Prebbbleton (1863), and later Prebbleton (from 1864). He is credited as being the first person to introduce threshing machinery into the Doyleston district.
'In April 1888, using a double-action well-driving machine of his own patent, he sank a two-inch-diameter well for the Christchurch Drainage Board in Windmill Road. Osborne's machine could reach depths of over 800 feet at less than half the cost of earlier attempts. By 1902 he was working seven two-man plants. He successfully sank wells at many sites in Otago, Canterbury and the North Island, where they produced gas as well as water. His machine was used for boring for coal in the Nelson district and for oil at Gisborne, and was eventually used by all New Zealand deep-well sinkers.
Job Osborne was an active member of local bodies and other organisations. He served on the Ellesmere Road Board in 1876–77 and the North Rakaia River Board of Conservators in 1876. He was treasurer of the Ellesmere Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1886–87 and president in 1898. He took an active interest in agricultural education at the Lincoln School of Agriculture and was for many years a trustee of the Leeston Methodist Church.'
Gavin East, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
First NameJobLast NameOsborneOccupationFarmerWell-sinkerContractorDate of Birth26 April 1842Place of BirthRoad, Somersetshire, EnglandDate of Death31 January 1931Place of DeathLewisham Hospital. ChristchurchAge at Death88Parents or Next of KinWife: Mary Robertson Jamieson
SummaryEllesmere farmer, well-sinker, and contractorDescriptionJob Osborne was an inventive farmer, contractor and engineer who developed pioneering expertise in sinking artesian wells across Canterbury. He was a farmer at Prebbbleton (1863), and later Prebbleton (from 1864). He is credited as being the first person to introduce threshing machinery into the Doyleston district.'In April 1888, using a double-action well-driving machine of his own patent, he sank a two-inch-diameter well for the Christchurch Drainage Board in Windmill Road. Osborne's machine could reach depths of over 800 feet at less than half the cost of earlier attempts. By 1902 he was working seven two-man plants. He successfully sank wells at many sites in Otago, Canterbury and the North Island, where they produced gas as well as water. His machine was used for boring for coal in the Nelson district and for oil at Gisborne, and was eventually used by all New Zealand deep-well sinkers.
Job Osborne was an active member of local bodies and other organisations. He served on the Ellesmere Road Board in 1876–77 and the North Rakaia River Board of Conservators in 1876. He was treasurer of the Ellesmere Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1886–87 and president in 1898. He took an active interest in agricultural education at the Lincoln School of Agriculture and was for many years a trustee of the Leeston Methodist Church.'
Gavin East, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
First NameJobLast NameOsborneOccupationFarmerWell-sinkerContractorDate of Birth26 April 1842Place of BirthRoad, Somersetshire, EnglandDate of Death31 January 1931Place of DeathLewisham Hospital. ChristchurchAge at Death88Parents or Next of KinWife: Mary Robertson Jamieson
Publication (PDF)
Source: 1903 Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Available at https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20211204025948/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc03Cycl-t1-body1-d6-d14-d2.html#name-208892-mention
Job Osborne. Selwyn Stories, accessed 06/04/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/6515
